Contrast media are vital for the imaging and contrasting of organs and body structure and hence leads to easy detection of any dysfunctionality in the body of person. Increasing incidence of diseases and growing median age of the global population along with prevalence of chronic problems such as cancer and cardiac diseases are the major factors that are expected to drive the growth of the contrast agent market. Developing technology has also led to better diagnostic and imaging thus driving the contrast agent market. Growing technological development in ultrasound contrasting agent technology is also expected to contribute to the growth of this market.

X-ray contrast agent accounted for the largest share of revenue in 2014 and is expected to witness lucrative growth throughout the forecast period. Ultrasound contrast agent market is anticipated to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period owing to the increasing investment and innovations in the field of ultrasound contrast agent market. The neurological disorder market is also expected to witness significant growth rate as it is a viable mean of analyzing blood vessels with identifying and diagnosing therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals that leads to treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The total reported adverse reactions caused due to contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging ranges between 2 percent to 4 percent.

Contrast agent market is segmented on the basis products, route of administration, medical procedure, indication and application. On the basis of product, the segmentation is gadolinium-based contrast media, barium-based contrast media, iodinated contrast media. Iodinated contrast media is further sub-segmented into high-osmolar contrast media (HOCM) and low-osmolar contrast media (LOCM). Segmentation based on administration is urethral, rectal, oral and injection. Injection is classified into intra-arterial and intravenous. By procedure, the segments are catheterization laboratory (cath lab), X-ray, computed tomography (CT), ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Indication segment includes oncology (tumor detection), cardiovascular disorders, nephrological disorders, neurological disorders, gastrointestinal disorders andmusculoskeletal anomalies. Interventional cardiology, radiology and interventional radiology are various applications of contrast agent market. Most of contrast agents utilized in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) generally use contrast agents that have paramagnetic gadolinium (Gd) chelates. About 90 million doses of gadolinium chelates have been sold worldwide. The Gd base are of 2 types specific intracellular contrast agents and non-specific extracellular contrast agent. They differ in their chelating portion, however Gd based contrast agents are preferred over iodinated contrast agents as they are much safer.

On the basis geography, the segments are North-America, Europe, Latin-America, Asia-Pacific and MEA. Radiopharmaceutical market is a fluctuating market due to its unreliable supply of technetium-based radioisotopes since these isotopes are only produced by 8 reactors and thus shutdown results in unstable price. US represent the maximum contrast agent market followed by Europe and Japan. This is due to the presence of major players in the region. Emerging economies of Asia Pacific region, such as China and India are expected to witness a lucrative growth due to the increase in population and high unmet demand in the region. Along with these major advances in medical technology with rising foreign investment from developed nations is anticipated to encourage these markets to compete globally. Investment firms are also focusing on expansion of Latin America and Asia-Pacific since the US is on brink of clasping all the healthcare reforms and Europe is still recovering from financial deficits. It is estimated that medical contrast media market is experiencing a robust growth by driving the market for computed tomography contrasting agents such as x-ray and radiopharmaceuticals used in nuclear medicine. Changing government reforms is also leading to major technological inventions which are a major boon for growth of the market.